ReStore plans June 1 opening in Kennebunk

Thursday

May 30, 2013 at 2:00 AM

KENNEBUNK — After months of planning, collecting inventory, establishing a volunteer network and building momentum, the ReStore in Kennebunk is preparing for its grand opening event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 1.

Samantha Stephens

KENNEBUNK — After months of planning, collecting inventory, establishing a volunteer network and building momentum, the ReStore in Kennebunk is preparing for its grand opening event from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. June 1.

ReStore is a retail outlet for Habitat for Humanity where used building supplies and appliances in good condition are resold. All proceeds go toward local Habitat projects.

Executive Director Steve Bolton said the ReStore helps circulate revenue within the town by providing an affordable place for builders and homeowners to shop, and taking the revenue to generate more property taxpayers in the town by building Habitat homes.

The York County Habitat for Humanity division has been operating for approximately 27 years and the ReStore, located on Industrial Drive, is the first in York County and the sixth in Maine.

"It's all part of the economy," Bolton said. "It makes me feel good to know I play a part in helping the community."

What started as an empty warehouse approximately eight weeks ago has flourished with the help of donated contributions. The once-empty warehouse now has more than 100 windows, dozens of doors and light fixtures, a row of fully functional refrigerators, a dozen stoves and almost everything in between.

"These were new," Bolton said as he demonstrated anti-slam kitchen cabinets. "They were the wrong size for the house so they came here."

Unlike department stores that charge full price for returned items, Bolton said new merchandise at the ReStore will cost approximately 50 percent less than retail value. Similarly, used items will be discounted an additional 20 to 40 percent depending on the age and quality of the material.

"It's like the Goodwill of building materials," Bolton explained.

The savings aren't just beneficial in the short run either. Bolton said that by installing top-quality Anderson double-pane windows there's potential for energy costs to be dramatically decreased and for monthly bills to be reduced.

"We are providing the community around us a safe, efficient and environmentally-friendly way of disposing materials (that) otherwise go into a landfill," said Lee Cooper, president of the Habitat for Humanity York County board of directors. "We're giving a chance to put them to reuse and the other side is we allow families to upgrade their homes."

Cooper said what excites him most about the ReStore is the potential to grow from building one house a year to potentially building more.

"The ReStore ramps up our fundraising and our income capabilities," Cooper said. "With the revenue from the ReStore we could build two or three homes per year."

And while the doors have not officially been opened, Cooper said he sees a promising future for the ReStore.

"Every time I walk into the ReStore, I see more and more stuff in it. I think about where those materials would have ended up if we didn't have the ReStore available to the community and I look at these things and the prices on them. We could build a new home just with the materials we have in the store now," he said.

But opening up the new facility, the first of its kind in York County, has required the hard work of many hands and volunteer hours from community members who are excited for York County to have the ability to help their neighbors and find bargains that would require a trip to the nearby Portland or Portsmouth ReStore locations.

Carolyn Broad, of Kennebunk, and Beth Doty, of Kennebunkport, spent a recent afternoon scrubbing down appliances and organizing the facility while entertaining each other with laughs and conversation.

Doty said she views the ReStore as a "means to an end" for the residents of York County who are struggling financially.

"ReStore is a way to bring the community together and it links with the Habitat mission," Doty said.

Doty said she is not surprised by the excited buzz around town as the community waits for the ReStore to open its doors, but she has been surprised by the donations that are continually collected.

"I'm so surprised and pleased by the amount and the quality of the donations," she said. "This is a very happy project. People can feel good about volunteering and helping."

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